Man page 1 : debconf-copydb

debconf-copydb - copy a debconf database

debconf-copydb sourcedb destdb [--pattern=pattern] [--owner-pattern=pattern] [--config=Foo:bar]

debconf-copydb copies items from an existing debconf database into another, possibly new database. The two databases may have different formats; if so a conversion will automatically be done.

sourcedb 4 The name of the source database. Typically it will be defined in your debconf.conf (or .debconfrc) file.

destdb 4 The name of the destination database. It may be defined in debconf.conf or .debconfrc, or you might define it on the command line (see below).

-p pattern, --pattern pattern 4 If this is specified, only items in sourcedb whose names match the pattern will be copied.

--owner-pattern pattern 4 If this is specified, only items in sourcedb whose owners match the pattern will be copied.

-c foo:bar, --config Foo:bar 4 Set option Foo to bar. This is similar to writing: .Sp Foo: bar

.Sp In debconf.conf, except you probably want to leave off the space on the command line (or quote it: \*(L"Foo: bar\*(R"). Generally must be used multiple times, to build up a full configuration stanza. While blank lines are used to separate stanzas in debconf.conf, this program will assume that \*(L"Name:dbname\*(R" denotes the beginning of a new stanza.

debconf-copydb configdb backup

Copy all of configdb to backup, assuming you already have the backup database defined in debconf.conf.

debconf-copydb configdb newdb --pattern=\*(Aq^slrn/\*(Aq \ --config=Name:newdb --config=Driver:File \ --config=Filename:newdb.dat

Copy slrn's data out of configdb, and into newdb. newdb is not defined in the rc file, so the --config switches set up the database on the fly.

debconf-copydb configdb stdout -c Name:stdout -c Driver:Pipe \ -c InFd:none --pattern=\*(Aq^foo/\*(Aq

Spit out all the items in the debconf database related to package foo.

debconf-copydb configdb pipe --config=Name:pipe \ --config=Driver:Pipe --config=InFd:none | \ ssh remotehost debconf-copydb pipe configdb \ --config=Name:pipe --config=Driver:Pipe

This uses the special purpose pipe driver to copy a database to a remote system.

debconf.conf (5)

Joey Hess <>